Rape and other forms of sexual violence have been reported by health workers, human rights observers, and civilians in conflict zones, including Rwanda, Bosnia, Tigray, and Myanmar. Yet, survivors of these human rights abuses are rarely provided the sexual and reproductive healthcare they need. Jill Filipovic, freelance journalist and author of The H Spot: The Feminist Pursuit of Happiness and OK Boomer: Let’s Talk How My Generation Got Left Behind, talks to us about how U.S. foreign policy has prevented the support and care of women who have endured sexual violence in conflict zones.
U.S. foreign policy, such as the global gag rule and the Helms amendment, have prevented U.S. dollars to fund safe abortions for rape survivors and refugees even in areas where abortion is legal. In fact, the Helms amendment dictates that no U.S. funding can be spent on abortion as a method of family planning. Even though the Helms amendment’s wording should exclude abortions needed as a result of rape or abortion for those whose lives and health are threatened, U.S. federal dollars still do not fund safe abortion care. The global gag rule prevents U.S. funding for family planning abroad from going to groups that perform abortion with their own non-U.S. money, advocate for abortion, or refer people for abortion care. The rule has a broad “chilling effect”, stigmatizing the procedure and preventing groups that receive U.S. funding from engaging in abortion-related activities. While the Biden/Harris admin has rescinded the global gag rule it is not a light switch, just because the policy is gone it does not mean its impacts are. (Learn more about why we must permanently repeal the global gag rule by checking out this episode of rePROs Fight Back from earlier this year).
As a result of U.S. law, many medical providers in conflict settings are able to offer post-abortion care—via the same medical machine or the same set of medications— but cannot offer an elective abortion, itself. Because women cannot access an elective abortion at the time needed, they may seek unsafe options and return to the medical provider for post-abortion care, after. This leads to increased rates of problems in pregnancy and childbirth, injury and death, loss of fertility, and more. Under the Trump administration, post-abortion care in conflict settings was scaled back, as well as radically expanded the global gag rule during the administration’s four years.
Those who have experienced this trauma, which is rooted in a loss of control over one’s own physical safety and bodily autonomy, deserve control and ability to make personal decisions in the aftermath of a sexual assault. Ultimately, the U.S.’s policy must change to center the safety, health, and wellbeing of women and girls in conflict zones and to adhere to the principles outlined in the Women, Peace, and Security Agenda.
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First and foremost, be sure to read Jill Filipovic’s piece,How US Abortion Politics Distorts Women’s Lives in Conflict Zones, here. You can also follow Jill on
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